Use your roasting oven to prepare the gravy. You can easily do this in advance and freeze it. Defrost Christmas Eve and then heat thoroughly on the big day!

Ingredients...

1 pint (550ml) turkey stock or giblet stock or stock mixed with wine or water and a stock cube

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp turkey fat or the juices from the roasted bird

Salt and pepper

When the turkey has cooked, pour off the juices from the roasting tin. This is easiest if you have a second, clean roasting tin and just transfer the bird from one tin to the other, leaving the juices in the first. Cover the bird with foil and allow it to rest while you make the gravy and dish up all the vegetables.

Pour the juices into a jug, leaving a tablespoonful or two in the bottom of the pan. Stir in the flour, then gradually blend in the stock and seasoning.

Put the tin onto the floor of the roasting oven to boil. Stir after about 5 minutes, then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until boiling and thickened. Strain and serve.

I am Sarah Whitaker, 'The Aga Lady', and a super experienced official Aga demonstrator and cookbook author. My mantra is ‘what can I get away with on my Aga?’ and I am pushing the boundaries pretty far these days! I specialise in fuss free, effortless cooking, and spout tips and shortcuts in all directions to help you make cooking and entertaining on your Aga easy.